Trademarks + Brands by Corsearch

Despite the buzz on comic book blogs about a trademark battle , “friendly” discussions are underway between fast food chain Whataburger and DC Comics over the restaurant’s “Flying W” logo and Wonder Woman’s logo.

The EU General Court (EGC) last week ruled against Latin American media company Grupo Globo’s trademark application appeal for the familiar “ring-ring” sound of a telephone. The ruling said the sound had “no distinctive character” and was “a banal and commonplace ringtone which would generally go unnoticed and would not be remembered by the consumer.”

Grupo Globo’s trademark application for the ringing sound — two repeated G-sharps — was represented like this in its 2014 application:

This week’s update includes news about .CLUB, .VIP domains, and Chinese IDN TLDs.

.CLUB – Auction of Premium and Some 2-Character Domains

The .CLUB registry announced that some of its 2-character domains, as well as I.CLUB and 777.CLUB, are available for registration via a no-reserve auction on Sedo from September 9–16, 2016.
FX.CLUB, DJ.CLUB, and RV.CLUB, as well as geographic names such as NY.CLUB, LA.CLUB, SF.CLUB, UK.CLUB, and US.CLUB, will also be available in the auction. Details of the auction inventory and bids can be found at www.JackpotAuction.club.

Swiss watchmaking company Swatch’s 2014 opposition to Apple’s attempt to register “iWatch” was upheld by the UKIPO, according to the BBC. Swatch had claimed that iWatch was too similar to its iSwatch and Swatch trademarks.

Obviously, by the time Apple launched what we now know as the Apple Watch in 2015, it had decided against using the name iWatch.

Today marks the launch of Corsearch Domain Vigilance, a fast and convenient domain investigation tool that uncovers hidden risks across domains globally for trademark practitioners. This self-service tool enables users to conduct a quick WHOIS ownership lookup for a single domain and then, using the ownership record, uncover alternate domains owned by the same individual

With over 326 million registered domain names as of March 2016, Domain Vigilance responds to the growing market demand for more robust and detailed monitoring and risk management with diverse applications, including:

• Screening for existing domains that conflict with new trademark procurement;
• Auditing and monitoring corporate domain portfolios or partner domains for brand and regulatory compliance;
• Identifying and reviewing domains related to mergers and acquisitions; and
• Discovering unknown trademark and copyright infringement.